ABSTRACT
A word processing program could in theory have a wide range of interface specifications—those compatible with Windows, Microsoft Disk Operating System, Apple, International Business Machines System/370, Digital Equipment Corp Vax, UNIX, or even a nonexistent operating system which could be developed in the future by the programmer writing the word processing program. Among the most rigid functional constraints on a computer program are the interface specifications which permit the program to interoperate with an existing computer system. With the issuance of Apple v. Franklin, Whelan v. Jaslow, and Plains Cotton, the first question of the interoperability debate, the protectability of interface specifications, moved to center stage. The Business Software Alliance, which included companies such as Microsoft, Lotus, and WordPerfect, launched a high visibility campaign to stop piracy abroad. The team of Plains Cotton programmers subsequently joined Goodpasture, where they developed a cotton growing and marketing program which could run on personal computers.
